Sample Text

Discusses a variety of issues concerning child custody, including court structures, living arrangements, recommendations on avoiding court battles, and advice on working with lawyers.

You Can Protect Your Children in Divorce You can stop the divorce court from invading your privacy You can stop the illegal family studies You can limit the judges authority to rip your life apart You can stop the personal attacks on your parenting style You can stop the system from hurting your child You can stop the system from making you broke You can learn to protect those you love most The Divorce Industry takes BILLIONS of dollars from our children every single year! STOP THEM NOW! This book will give you the arguments, the legal framework for stopping the divorce custody machine dead in its tracks. This book will show you how to stop giving up your rights to your children. Your children need you in their lives. The most important thing you can do to give your child a future is to remain a full parent in their lives. To retain equal time to show them love and to teach them through your daily example. Children do best in life when they have two fit parents active in their lives. Your right to the care, custody and control over your child is a Fundamental Liberty, just as your right to free speech is, or your right to freedom of religion is a Fundamental Liberty. Your child has the right to associate with you and to have you as a parent, not a visitor, in their life. You and your child have privacy rights in your family life that are between you and your child as individuals. They do NOT come from the marriage, and, if you are a natural parent, they do NOT come from the Government. If you let them, the State will take your rights adn do with them what they please. Knowledge is Power! Know your Rights! Protect Your Children

Questions about how children fare in divided families have become as perplexing and urgent as they are common. In this landmark work on custody arrangements, the developmental psychologist Eleanor Maccoby and the legal scholar Robert Mnookin consider these questions and their ramifications for society. The first book to examine the social and legal realities of how divorcing parents make arrangements for their children, Dividing the Child is based on a large, representative study of families from a wide range of socioeconomic levels. Maccoby and Mnookin followed a group of more than one thousand families for three years after the parents filed for divorce. Their findings show how different divorce agreements are reached, from uncontested dealings to formal judicial rulings, and how various custody arrangements fare as time passes and family circumstances change. Numerous examples of joint custody and father custody are considered in this account, along with the mother-custody families more commonly studied; and in most cases the point of view of both parents is presented. Among families in which children spend time in both parental households, the authors identify three different patterns of co-parenting: cooperative, conflicted, and disengaged. They find that although divorcing parents seldom engage in formal legal disputes, they are generally unable to cooperate effectively in raising their children. Full of interesting findings with far-reaching implications, this book will be invaluable to the lawyers, judges, social workers, and parents who, more and more often, must make wise and informed decisions concerning the welfare and care of children of divorce.

Whether assessing general family functioning or specific areas of conflict, professionals preparing child custody evaluations require sound knowledge of three interrelated fields: up-to-date legal issues, psychological findings, and forensic procedures. This book covers these three essential areas to walk readers through the evaluation process clearly and concisely. It further provides a unique combination of legal guidelines with social science research.

"It is almost always in your children's best interest to settle a case--with or without mediation--rather than to litigate in court," said Judge Stewart. His book fully, clearly, and concisely explains the process of court child custody litigation. It shows how custody decisions are made, what can be expected at each stage of the process, and how parents can insure that their abilities are clearly presented to persons with influence over the custody decision. It is intended to eliminate surprises that could lead to costly mistakes along the way. Parents who settle custody disputes out of court will not only save tens of thousands of dollars, but will have avoided the rancor and hostility of a custody trial that makes future cooperation in raising the children almost impossible. With help from a capable and experienced attorney, this book will allow the reader to present her/his case for custody in its best possible light. A must-read for divorcing parents, custody evaluators, family psychologists, and marriage and family therapists.